Red-Eyed Swan
by Nosebone
Summary: AU With Alternate History Undertones. Edward's Rebellious Years Never Ended, And Bella Was Born Earlier. When Their Paths Cross In The Late 60s, Sparks Will Fly - And Blood Will Be Spilled. *Red-Eye Warning*
1. One: First Blood

**_WARNING!!!_** **_MATURE CONTENT TO FOLLOW!_****_!! _**_This story contains character death, murder, betrayal, and graphic lemons!!!!! PLEASE click off now if this is not your thing!_

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"_The Soviet Union launched another unmanned spacecraft yesterday. Target: the Moon. After a three-day journey, the four ton probe wi--_"

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"_A Transnational Airlines Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, on a nonstop flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, vanished from radar screens yesterday over the Pacific. While search and rescue efforts have already begun, the suddenness of the disappearance from tracking equipment and lack of a distress signal does not bode well for the 218 passeng--_"

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"_A mortar attack on the US Army's main base of operations in North Vietnam at Khe Sanh has claimed the lives of three US soldiers. Ongoing engagements with NVA regulars and Viet Minh insurgents around the area have been costly for both sides, with some estimating that a--_"

Isabella Marie Swan sighed and turned off the TV. Sometimes she wondered why she'd bought it; it never held her interest long. Mumbling under her breath, she jumped up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen. As she began chopping up an onion, she fell back on what was rapidly becoming her favorite pastime: trying to figure out what Edward Masen could be.

She'd noticed two main things about the man that attended most of the classes she did at the University of Washington on her first day there. His ruby red eyes and the fact that she was - for some inexplicable reason - determined to find out more about him. Of course there were other odd things about him - many more - such as his unnatural beauty, his impeccable manners, his cold, hard skin, and the fact that he seemed to have an uncanny ability to predict what people were going to say, with everyone except her.

She had compiled this list and attempted to conduct research with her ever inquisitive mind, but she was bogged down at UniWash much as the country was stuck in a quagmire in Southeast Asia, and her free time was mainly spent sleeping or studying. She had good grades to show for it, but it was exhausting. _Just two more years... Just two..._ she thought to herself as she finished flavoring dinner. Leaving the pot to boil, she walked to her roommate's door to tell her that dinner was forthcoming.

She knocked. Waited. Knocked again. Waited.

She frowned. Odd. Her roommate - Angela Weber - was just as tired as she was at the end of a long day, but always answered when she was in. And Bella knew she was in there.

She suddenly felt something cool come into contact with her bare foot. Looking down, she saw a pool of blood leaking from the crack under the door. Swallowing, she opened the door and entered. Later she would wonder why she did that. She tended to run AWAY from blood, not head TOWARD it. And she knew even as the door swung open that what she should have done was gone back into the kitchen and dialed 911. But she felt an unexplainable pull from the other side of that door. Much the same as what she felt whenever she was around...

...Edward Masen. Who was, at the moment, standing behind her roommate's bed. Or rather, her _former _roommate, as Angela Weber was lying on the hardwood floor with a nauseatingly large pool of blood around a massive gash in her neck. Absurdly, she seemed to have been smiling.

Bella froze in fear. Edward Masen stepped slowly around the bed with an apologetic smile on his face. When he spoke, it sounded like wind chimes.

"In my 51 years in this world, you are one of the only Humans I've ever encountered who has realized that things are not as they should be. And that's exactly why I have to kill you now."

Bella felt the raw terror those words instilled in her. She got ready to plead for her life. Before she could find her voice, however, Edward had moved, impossibly fast, and covered her mouth with an ice cold hand. Tears filled Bella's eyes.

Then Edward removed his hand. But Bella had realized she wouldn't be escaping this alive. Thinking of her father and mother, she managed one last, half whispered, half sobbed "Please."

Edward shook his head. "I really am sorry, Isabella. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. I will make this quick."

Bella felt something cold against her neck. With her last bit of will to live, she breathed "Wait."

She didn't expect him to hear. He did however, and - polite as ever - he waited. "Make me one of you." Bella said in a thick voice.

Bella heard a sharp intake of breath, and knew she had surprised him. This gave her hope. "I don't know what you are, but I know that your... your... _better_ than me and every other Human in Seattle. I don't care if it hurts, I don't care if I have to give up everything. I just don't want to die!

Edward visibly hesitated. "You don't want to be like me Isabella. I hurt people."

Bella didn't know why she said what she did next. She'd always been the kindest soul out there. But when she said the words she knew she meant them. "Maybe I want to hurt people too."

Edward Masen stepped back and regarded her. "You are certainly a remarkable specimen, Isabella Swan. All right then. You want to be one of me, I suppose I cannot, in good concise, turn you down."

With that, he lunged forward and battened his razor sharp teeth on her jugular. Bella gave a strangled little cry and fainted dead away.

* * *


	2. Two: Awakening

Same warnings apply as last chapter.

Bella opened her eyes. She spent most of a minute staring up at her apartment ceiling. Her vision was... _sharpened_. More clear. She heard someone clear a throat beside her.

Her head whipped to the left faster than she would have thought possible, and she saw Edward Masen sitting in her living room sofa, regarding her with a comforting smile. Memories flooded back to her. Her dead roommate, her death sentence at the hands of the man across from her, only to be moved by her plea to live to _change_ her into... whatever she was now.

She was about to speak when Edward spoke. "Astonishing. You didn't scream _once_. And I still can't read your mind. I'm so glad I didn't kill you Isabella. I couldn't ask for a better first member of my coven."

"How long was I out? Why would I have been screaming? What's a coven? What are _we_?" Bella asked the four questions at a mile a minute, than giggled and said, "Sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for Isabella. To answer your inquiries, your change took two-and-a-half days. You _should _have been screaming your throat raw because it's more painful than any Human could imagine. A coven is a group of our kind united- the closest Human adjective would be a family, although the bonds are much stronger than that among us. And for your final question... well, to answer that, I think you should come with me.

Edward started to walk out of the room and Bella bounced up from the floor and followed him. "Where are we going?"

"That would be the alleyway."

"Um. OK, cool, but the door to the stairs is that way and -- _Oh my God!!_Bella rushed to the seventh floor window Edward had just jumped out of and stared down with a pained look on her face, expecting to see little more than a pool of blood on the pavement. Instead she saw Edward standing 70 feet below with an amused grin on his face. With her new vision, she could see he was making a come-hither motion with his hands.

_He can't be serious._ Thought Bella. But then she reasoned it out. Edward wasn't Human, and could survive a seven story fall. She was what he was now, so shouldn't the same apply for her? Nervously, she slipped her legs out the window. Apparently she could hear better now too, because she clearly heard Her Edward say that there was no need to be nervous and he would catch her.

She frowned. _MY Edward? Where did that come from?_ She shook her head, took a deep pull of air, and leaned forward. About five seconds later she was standing on the ground in front of Edward Masen. She whipped her head up. Yes, that was her open window up there. She looked back to Edward and said in an accusatory tone, "You said you'd catch me."

Edward guffawed. "You didn't need it. Now come on, I still need to answer your question."

They walked down the alley until they came to a pile of plastic garbage bags. Edward Masen lifted up and tossed aside three of them in quick succession to reveal a man, probably around thirty, with his wrists bound by handcuffs and duct tape covering his mouth. He turned to Bella and asked, "What do you want to do to him?"

Bella considered the question. I don't know why, and it'll sound ridiculous... but his blood is... _calling_ to me. I want to _drain him _of it."

Edward nodded. "What does that tell you?"

"That you've either turned me into a sadist or a vamp... ... ... _WAIT_..."

Edward nodded. "Congratulations, Isabella. Here Is your reward." He picked up the clearly unconscious man and handed him to her. Bella found she had no trouble holding him, even though he must have weighed at least one-and-a-half times as much as her.

Bella, still reeling from the news that she had joined the ranks of the undead, found it in her to ask, "Does this man deserve to die? I'm not sure if I have it in me to kill an innocent. not yet, anyway."

Edward nodded. "I was like you when I first broke away from my maker. Don't worry Isabella. Until your ready to take the next step I'll find your prey for you. As for this man, he is a murderer and rapist and will certainly not be missed by anyone."

Bella smiled at Edward. "You're too good to me, Mr. Masen." With that, she lowered her head and sunk her teeth into the man's neck.


	3. Singer

Bella stared at her reflection in her apartment room mirror. Two things caught her eye. How her previously plain self had been turned into an ethereal beauty, and her pale skin; pale as death.

She turned her scarlet eyes to Edward, who had just finished explaining that their kind didn't burn in the sun, but it wasn't a good idea to go out in the sunlight until he was ready to guide her. She didn't begrudge him that; he had been a part of this life since 1918, he would know more than her.

Edward smiled at her. "Time to set off for college, I suppose."

Bella blinked. "Vamps go to college?"

Edward shrugged. "It passes the time." He held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Bella took it and they went clattering down the stairs. They set out into a drizzly Seattle Monday morning.

About ten minutes later they arrived at UniWash. Bella's first class, History, was the only one they didn't have together.

"Are you sure you'll be OK around so many Humans, Isabella?" Edward asked concernedly.

"I like Bella better. And I should be okay. Thanks for everything Edward. I'll see you in Biology."

Without any warning, Edward bent down and _kissed_ her; just a quick peck on the lips, but still enough to stun her. He then went prancing off to his first class with his unnatural grace.

Bella violently shook her head and walked into the building. Then to her History class on the second floor. The class was about half full and she noticed Angela Weber's empty seat right away. She searched herself for some feeling of regret or remorse, but found nothing.

Then, suddenly, she jerked in her seat. Her head snapped to the door and she saw a girl called Jessica Stanley walking to her seat. She had always been kind of a jerk to Bella, but that wasn't why she was shaking and grinding her teeth and gripping the wood desk so hard it was splintering. Her scent was setting off atomic bombs in her brain and it was taking willpower Bella didn't know know she had to avoid simply walking over to her and ripping her throat out.

She fought it... she fought it... then suddenly she wasn't fighting it anymore.

_Snap! Crack._

Bella looked over and saw her deskmate sprawled across the desk, his neck at an unnatural angle and his eyes already going bloodshot. The act of murder had taken less than a second.

It took Bella even less time to decide her next course of action.

_Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack._

No one made a sound, no one even had time to realize what was happening.

_Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack._

Human necks were surprisingly easy to break. She supposed it was instinct. Was every newly turned Vamp this good? She assumed they'd have to be. She couldn't imagine herself having any special abilities.

_Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack. Snap! Crack._

Everyone had to die. It was murder, but what could be done? She needed Jessica Stanley. So what if 23 teenagers and a barely adequate teacher had to lose their lives? It would be worth it in the end. Who was she to deny her nature?

_Snap! Crack. _Bella impatiently tossed the corpse of the last student aside and zipped up to the front of the classroom.

Jessica tried to hand a recently completed essay to her teacher, who started to fall backwards. Had he fainted? She tried to grab him but before her fingers could touch him, she was whirled around. It was Bella Swan. She looked at her with a condescending little smirk. Had the shy little bitch actually grown a spine?

Then she noticed the stillness that had overtaken the classroom. There was no talking, no scraping of chairs against the floor, just the slight whirr of a vent nearby. A soft thump came from behind her as the professor hit the ground.

‐--

EPOV

Edward sighed as he walked up to Bella's history class. This was an unforeseen complication. He knew he couldn't blame Isabella for it, but it was still rather annoying. Seattle was off the books for at least a decade, and he wouldn't be surprised if a national manhunt was organized for his companion.

He opened the door just as Bella dropped the husk of Jessica Stanley to the floor. Clearing his throat, he said in an amused tone, "My goodness me, dearest Isabella! I've rarely seen such finesse in a newborn. Certainly an impressive display, at any rate."

Bella looked upward in suprise at the sound of his voice, but quickly composed herself. "I told you it's just Bella! I don't know how it was in 1918, but if you keep this up, you're going to make some nice girl very unhappy someday."

* * *

Edward smiled at this. Her correctivness was cute. He decided he would never call her Bella.

* * *

"I can promise I won't make you unhappy, Isabella. But that's a discussion for another time. Right now we probably should leave."

Bella huffed and fell into step behind him. Oh, the fun they were going to have together...


	4. Confrontation

-**Isabella Marie Swan**-

WANTED BY U.S. MARSHALS

_Guilty of Murder and Domestic Terrorism.__**REWARD**_

Bella smirked every time she looked at the faded poster pasted on her bedroom wall. In the six months since what she and her Edward had taken to calling "The Great UniWash Downsizing" they had moved to Victoria, British Columbia, and were currently attending UVic. Right now Edward was in Vancouver on a hunt, and would be back sometime tonight. Bella cracked open her history textbook and read:

p.73

_The Hispano-Japanese War was fought between Spain and Japan in early 1909. During the 19th Century, Spain's power and position in the world had gradually slipped, losing their colonies in the Americas and the Caribbean. By the dawn of the 20th century, Spain's power in the Pacific had long since dwindled down to nothing. Japan, on the other hand, had begun asserting itself militarily and politically. The decisive battle of the war was launched by the Japanese Navy when they made a surprise attack on the Spanish Pacific Squadron in Manila Harbor, entirely destroying it and allowing the Japanese Army to land and engage the Spanish Garrison there. Blockaded by sea and with no chance of receiving any reinforcements, aid, or supplies, the Spanish Army within the city surrendered.__After this victory, the war was a foregone conclusion, and Spain surrendered to Japan. In the ensuing peace, Japan stripped Spain of all its Pacific territories, including Guam and the Philippines. Japan would heavily fortify Guam in the years to come, installing several airfields, coastal gun batteries, and a Y-Range station. Japan's victory made the Western world stand up and take notice of her emergence as a modern military power. Never had an Asian country so completely defeated a European one. Skeptics were quick to point out that Spain was hardly a formidable opponent. Nonetheless, Europe had to concede that Japan had arrived as a player on the political scene and would have to be dealt with as something like an equal._Suddenly, the buzzer sounded. Bella frowned. The Vampiric duo rarely got visitors.

Sighing, Bella padded over to the door, rarely didn't mean never. She opened it and thought she would be the first Vamp in history to suffer heart failure when she was confronted by another vampire that was definitely _not _her Edward.

"Hello Miss. I was looking for your roommate, Mr. Masen?"

"He's out."

"That's alright, I can wait, if you'll allow it."

Bella frowned. "I... don't see why not."

"Wonderful."

Bella seated him down in the living room.

"So, how many Humans do you drink a month?" Bella asked conversationally.

A look of... pain? Sadness? Regret? crossed his face, and he simply said, "Less than you."

They sat in silence for a while before Bella noticed something... strange.

"May I ask why your eyes are golden, sir? To my knowledge they should be red or black."

"Before I answer that question, may I ask you one?"

Bella was taken aback. "Of course."

"Do you regret having to kill innocents to sustain yourself?"

Bella tried to stop looking confused. "Uh... No. Not really. Why? Do _you_?

The mystery vamp flinched. "I have never taken a life, my dear."

"Oh! Your new then! Well, if your having a bit of a crisis of conscience, don't worry. It passed for me pretty qui-"

"I was changed two hundred years ago Miss Swan."

Bella was stunned into silence for a full minute. "... ... ...How...?"

The door flew open then. Almost too fast even for her improved eyes, Edward blurred over to her and shoved her behind him. He snarled loudly and said in a trembling voice, "She's not interested in hearing any of your lies!!!"

The unnamed vampire stood up slowly. "As much as it would warm my heart to save the souls of two wayward immortals, I didn't come here for the newborn. I came here to give my son a second chance."

Edward drew in a deep breath.

"Carlisle... I appreciate the offer. Really, I do. But neither me nor my companion have any interest in converting to your _disgusting _lifestyle! I am forever shamed for even _once _having drunk from an animal. Please leave us alone."

Bella blanched. "_That's _how you sustain yourself?!?! Drinking from _animals_?? My _God_!!! I'd rather have both my hands burnt!"

Edward squeezed her hand. "I will _never _deny my true nature again. And if you ever try to convert my mate, I _will _report you to the Volturi. See if I don't."

The vampires - Carlisle's - shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'm sorry son. I've failed you." he said in a voice full of ashes. Without another word, he blurred out the door and was gone.

Edward shut the door and locked it. He turned and said, "I'm sorry Isabella. I owe you an explanation."

* * *


End file.
